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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: straw · court · bark · vault · file · game · march · rash

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. court — for sport
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. march — music
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. march — the month
  9. court — of a king
  10. rash — hasty
  11. vault — a safe
  12. game — a match
  13. file — a tool
  14. rash — a series
  15. march — the month
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. court — of law
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. file — a document
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com